“The show cause notice was sent earlier this week and was addressed to the ‘occupier’ and the factory manager – as is customary in such cases,” one of them said, adding that the company “will have to respond to the notice within a week, unless they seek an extension.”
“It is a procedural measure that is done in such instances so as to give the company a chance to explain what went wrong,” the person said.
Under the Factories Act, an occupier is someone who has the ultimate authority over a factory’s affairs and is responsible for ensuring the health, safety and welfare of its workers. In the case of a company, the Act deems that any one of the directors can be deemed the occupier.
“The show-cause notice also mentions that the fire broke out because of the failure of the thermostat control at the anodising plant and asks Tata Electronics to share their findings,” a second person cited above said. “In some cases, companies agree with the government’s reasoning. In others, they provide a different explanation based on their independent investigation.” The person added.
Queries sent to Tata Electronics remained unanswered as of press time Wednesday.
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ET had reported last week that DISH had determined the “most probable cause” for the fire that engulfed the Tata Electronics unit in Hosur.“The fire broke out in the anodising plant because of the failure of the thermostat control in one bath. The fire spread through the air duct and destroyed the anodising plant completely. These were the findings of the government probe that have been shared with Tata Electronics executives as well,” one person was quoted as saying at the time.
Earlier, ET had reported that Apple’s supplier responsibility (SR) team had been at the Tata Electronics facility in Hosur since September 29 to “counsel and advise” its sole Indian contract manufacturer that suffered a massive fire in one of its units on September 28.
